Texas congressman apologizes for affair with 'first lady of ISIS' and ends campaign

Reeling from accusations of an affair with the so-called ISIS bride, Texas Rep. Van Taylor bowed out of his reelection bid Wednesday and apologized to his family.

The Republican lawmaker also confessed to the infidelity — rumors of which dogged him during the final days of his primary campaign. After Tuesday's primary contest, Taylor was facing a runoff after narrowly failing to surpass the 50% threshold needed to win the nomination outright.

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“About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world,” Taylor said. “I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life. I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters," he wrote in an email to supporters.

Taylor was the front-runner in the race, finishing Tuesday's primary with about 49% of the vote. About five days before the primary took place, Tania Joya came forward with details of her relationship with Taylor to one of his primary challengers, Suzanne Harp, who finished third, the Dallas Morning News reported. Details of the affair quickly trickled out.

On Monday, Breitbart published a story with screenshots of alleged text messages and bank statements corroborating Joya's account of events. She told the news outlet that the affair transpired between November 2020 and June 2021 and that Taylor paid her $5,000 to keep quiet about their escapade. Joya needed the money to pay off credit card bills.

Media outlets have dubbed Joya the "ISIS bride" and the "first lady of ISIS." She was married to notorious ISIS fighter Yahya al Bahrumi for 12 years, the Times of Israel reported. At one point, Bahrumi was rumored to be the highest-ranking U.S. recruit to ISIS and a leader of its English propaganda campaigns, per the outlet. He is believed to have died in 2017, according to AFP.

Joya has since distanced herself from Islamic extremism. She first met Taylor while working on an initiative to de-radicalize extremists.

Taylor was the incumbent in the race for Texas's 3rd Congressional District. He was first elected to the seat in 2018 and won reelection in 2020. The district has historically been a Republican stronghold — a trend that is expected to continue after redistricting, according to FiveThirtyEight.

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Just short of offering an overt endorsement, Taylor mentioned in his email to supporters that he spoke to Keith Shelf, the second-place finisher in the primary with about 26.5% of the vote, and wished him "the best" in his campaign for the seat. He did not mention Harp in that email.

During his tenure in Congress, Taylor drew ire from a faction of his base for voting to certify the 2020 election and establish a nonpartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill, Roll Call reported.